"The Ring of Brodgar is the finest
known truly circular late Neolithic or early Bronze Age stone
ring and a later expression of the spirit which gave rise to Maeshowe,
Stenness and Skara Brae." Nomination of The
Heart of Neolithic Orkney for
inclusion in the World Heritage
List

If
one iconic site has come to represent Orkney's ancient heritage, it must
surely be the Ring o' Brodgar.

Because the interior of
the Ring o' Brodgar has never been fully excavated, or scientifically
dated, the monument's actual age remains uncertain. However, it is generally
assumed to have been erected between 2500 BC and 2000 BC, and was, therefore, the last of the great Neolithic
monuments built on the Ness.

The stone ring was built in a true circle, almost 104
metres wide. Although it is thought to have originally contained 60 megaliths, this figure is not based on archaeological evidence. Today, only 27
stones remain. (see Figure 1).

In contrast to the giant megaliths that make up the Standing Stones o' Stenness,
the Brodgar stones are much smaller, varying in height
from 2.1 metres (7 feet) to a maximum of 4.7 metres (15ft 3in).

With a diameter of 103.6 metres (340 ft),
the Brodgar ring is the third largest stone circle in the British
Isles. Covering an area of 8,435 square metres
(90,790 square feet), it is beaten only by the outer ring of
stones at Avebury and the Greater Ring at Stanton Drew in England.
Incidentally, the Brodgar ring is exactly the same size as Avebury's
two inner rings.

Like the nearby Standing Stones o' Stenness, the Ring
o' Brodgar has been classed as a henge.

Enclosed by a massive
rock-cut ditch, it has two entrance causeways, one to the north-west
and the other to the south-east. These two causeways differ in size - the south-eastern one just over one metre in width, compared to the 3.4m wide north-western causeway.

However, strictly speaking, Brodgar can't be called a henge, because it lacks the external bank of a true henge.

Heart of Neolithic Orkney

Any visitor to
the ring will immediately see why the Ness o' Brodgar was considered
the ideal place to construct such a great ceremonial monument.

The stone circle is practically in the centre of a
massive natural "cauldron" formed by the hills of the
surrounding landscape. Today, the site is accentuated by the water of the lochs, but that was not always the case. In fact, when the ring was erected, between 2500BC and 200BC, the Stenness loch didn't exist. Instead the area was wet, marshy bog, surrounding pools of water or lochans. Click here for more details.

The sea only breached the narrow landbridge at the Brig o' Waithe in Stenness, filling the loch was salt water, around 1500BC - 500 to 1,000 years after the ring was built.

The Ring o' Brodgar was
part of an enormous prehistoric ritual complex that incorporated
the Stones o' Stenness, approximately one mile to the south-east,
and, probably, the Ring o' Bookan
to the north-west. A short distance to the east of the Brodgar ring
is the solitary standing stone now known as the Comet
Stone.

The area surrounding the Ring o' Brodgar, and the entire Ness, is rich with
archaeology - including four massive mounds thought to have
been created between 2500 BC and 1500 BC. Click
here for more details.

Brodgar or Brogar?

When
it comes to the Brodgar name - it is no wonder the visitor is often
confused.

It appears on some maps and accounts as Brogar - although this actually has no bearing on the "correct" Orcadian pronunciation, which is
broa(d)yeur, where there is slight emphasis on the "d".

Over the years, particularly outside the West Mainland parishes of Sandwick, Stromness and Stenness, this pronunciation corrupted
and it is now more common to hear "broad-gur" - or Brodgar,
as it is now written.

Recorded in 1563 as "Broager", it seems
likely that this local pronunciation led to the gradual inclusion
of a "d" when the name came to be written.

In 2004, Historic Scotland, who maintain the site,
decided to revert to the Orcadian use of "Brodgar" in
all its promotional material - a move that was widely welcomed by
Orcadians. Click here for more details.

Jo Ben's identity is unknown, although it has
been suggested that he was a priest, a visiting superior or travelling
monk, who resided in Orkney around 1529.

Regarding the Ring o' Brodgar, Jo Ben wrote:

"[In Stenness] beside the lake are stones
high and broad, in height equal to a spear, and in an equal circle
of half a mile.

In 1792, the ring contained 18 standing stones,
with eight lying prone. But by 1815, an account shows that two more
stones had been toppled, leaving only 16 erect.

Then, in 1854, in
what was the first detailed account of the stone circle, there were
only 13 erect stones, ten complete, but fallen, stones and fragments
of 13 more.

The Ring o' Brodgar was taken into state care in
1906 and, two years later, most of the fallen stones were placed
in what was thought to be their original sockets. Since then two stones have suffered lightning
strikes, leaving 27 standing today.

For years, the origin of the placename has been
explained as being from the Old Norse brúar-garðr meaning bridge farm. However, there is another intriguing possibility.

Bearing in mind the local pronunciation, broa(d)yeur,
could the name actually stem from brúar-jorð - earth bridge? In this case the "earth bridge" could be
the entire Ness o' Brodgar.
On June 5, 1980, the second highest megalith in the Ring o' Brodgar was shattered after being struck by lightning.

Most of the north-west face, and part of the top of the stone, was sheared off in a south-east direction. Scattered pieces of the stone were found up to 20 yards away.
In common with Maeshowe, a short
distance away, sometime in the 12th century, a Norse visitor carved
graffiti into one of the circle's stones.

The stone in question (the third stone to the north of the present-day entrance) is now a broken stump, but the runic
graffiti remains clearly visible.
During New New Year celebrations of yesteryear, lovers would visit
Brodgar where the man would fall to his knees and "pray to the
god Wodden" that the couple keep the oaths they were about to
swear. They then made their way to the Odin
Stone where the oath ceremony
took place.